487 replies to this topic

[racerlike]

Not a lot to report of late. A few odd bits here and there.
The bubbling paint on the wheel arches has meant they have had to come off for another respray prior to the Mini show at Brooklands which I will hopefully be attending.
I decided to tidy up their fitment to the body by replacing the nuts and bolts and self tappers with Rivnuts

[racerlike]

After a few unsuccessful attempts to find a bodyshop interested in painting my wheel arches I decided to have a go myself. They had become afflicted with lots of little blisters under the surface whereby you could scratch them off with your finger.

[racerlike]

I used a high build plastic primer initially but it was so thin and just wasn’t covering as well as I had hoped so I switched to etch primer which I read can be used to good effect. It was much better, thicker and just a superior spray all round.

[racerlike]

Two stage paint and 2K Lacquer
Used the test strip and the colour match looks pretty good at first glance

[racerlike]

Lovely pink base coat. Bit splattery from the can had to keep wiping down the nozzle but the coverage was really good and after rubbing down a few areas it left a decent finish

[racerlike]

2K lacquer completed last night. I’m not a paint sprayer and it shows! Very tricky to get a smooth even consistency and there’s a fair amount of orange peel going on. It’s reflective but just not as smooth as I had hoped. But I’m not too bad when it comes to polishing paint so I’m going to let it cure properly then hit them with a compound polish and go from there. I would like to avoid wet sanding so we will see.

[racerlike]

Had to start wet sanding the orange peel. Optimistic thinking I could polish it out no matter how aggressive the pad and polish. Anyway not the end of the world as I’m pleased at how tough the clear coat is and it should come up nicely with a bit of patience.

I’ve used a different seam finisher than before and it’s much better. Hooks on over the top edge of the arch effectively protecting it as it’s probably the most vulnerable part.

[racerlike]

Mini is pretty much ready for Brooklands on Sunday. Been sorting a few odd jobs on it this week mostly tightening loose fastener and other things that rattle.
Finished with the wheel arches for now. Wet sanded and polished three of them. One wasn’t as bad so I’ve left that for now. They came up much better than the blurry orange peel so I think the effort was justified. They aren’t perfect but I can address that when I’m not so rushed.

[racerlike]

Made it there and back without incident. Not the furthest distance it’s travelled but it was certainly the longest time I’d spent driving it as the return journey was about 1 hour 40 - for 30 miles!

[madazv8]

Hi,

 

Nice build.  From page 7, I think, of this you wrote these questions....

 

"couple of questions regarding some of the wiring.
with the modified R1 loom from promotive i have the grey fuel pump wire - does this go directly to the fuel pump (i have the MPi fuel tank with pump inside it and connections on top). I ask because its very thin gauge wire especially compared to the fuel pump wire in the mini loom, which im presuming is redundant?

secondly the two fan wires - they both come from one of the relays - do they both connect straight to the fan motor?

lastly feel free to point out any other errors on my wiring diagram. its basic (mainly so i could understand it!)but should mean its easy to highlight any mistakes. everything connected to the dash seems to be working fine. just the other side of things i want to make sure are spot on before i come to try and start the engine.
thanks"

 

What was the answer to this?  I just got my promo modified loom today and the first thing I thought was these are crazy thin gauge wires. 

 

Cheers

Edited by madazv8, 18 April 2024 - 02:09 PM.

[racerlike]

I’ve not had any issues with that side of things. All working ok. Yea some of the gauges don’t visibly match up but I think in a lot of cases the core is the same or similar. It’s just the insulation that’s actually thicker

[madazv8]

I’ve not had any issues with that side of things. All working ok. Yea some of the gauges don’t visibly match up but I think in a lot of cases the core is the same or similar. It’s just the insulation that’s actually thicker

Sorry,  just to be sure,  the thing gauge wires connect to the fan etc directly ? Hear what you are saying regarding insulation thickness.

Edited by madazv8, 20 April 2024 - 02:41 PM.

[racerlike]

Yes that’s right the two fan wires both go straight to the fan though I had to lengthen them to route them how I wanted. I used a two pin block connector so I could easily disconnect it an accessible spot should I need to

[madazv8]

Hi,  Thanks for above.  Got my head around all the wiring now after a dry run fit. How did you connect the vacuum to your brake booster ?

[racerlike]

I used the take offs on the throttle bodies. T pieces and a reducer as the take off from the servo is a much larger bore than those on the throttle bodies.
I will post up a photo later. Clearer if you can see it